Dear Editor,
Ramon Gaskin was one of the most delightful people I have ever met. I remember with gratitude how much of our conversation consisted of genuine good old-fashioned Guyanese laughter, the sort of laughter that is disappearing from our society as people are made miserable and hurried by extractivist capitalism dressed up as ‘development’.
I first met Ramon, nearly 30 years ago, when I crashed into him on my bicycle as he was walking past the Pegasus lobby. He was already well-known as “Rambo.” He liked bicycles. He turned mine upside down, fixed the chain and waved me on my way.
Ramon was a man of words (he told me he was tri-lingual: English, Russian and ‘waterfront’) which he used to devastating effect. He was a man of action. When Guyana’s politicians embraced the delusion of oil wealth, Ramon looked the oil curse in the face and spat at it. He exposed the “absurdities and illegalities” in the sell-out agreement that Raphael Trotman signed and the PPP/C now defend. He was totally opposed to the gas to shore project which he (like me) saw as economically disastrous, financially unjustified and backward.
Ramon was the first person to stand up to ExxonMobil. He challenged the petroleum production licence and was furious and frustrated by long delays – 366 days for acting Chief Justice George-Wiltshire to deliver a decision in a judicial review case and another long wait in the Court of Appeal. A letter requesting a decision from the Chief Justice Ag said, “We apologise for being forced to put pen to paper for the fourth time but our client is a person who is au courant with the laws and he has reminded us of the Time Limit for Judicial Decisions Act Cap 3:13. Our client has expressed the view that given his age – he being 77- whether he would live to see the fruits of his judgement.” He did not. It took 6 years for Ramons’s case to reach the CCJ and he died just 3 weeks after their decision which put public interest litigation on a different and better footing.
The CCJ ruled against Ramon but they graciously acknowledged that Ramon was “a public spirited citizen zealous for compliance with the constitutional and statutory principles and provisions protecting the environment” and that he had given them the opportunity “to stress the importance of transparency as a vital tool for protecting the environment.”
The CCJ stressed the importance of accountability stating that “Corporations, government agencies (like the EP Agency), and other public entities have a solemn obligation to hold themselves accountable for the steps they take in the management, conservation, protection and improvement of the environment” and that “Good governance, fairness and the utmost transparency must be observed.” The CCJ also said courts should avoid imposing a costs order on a citizen who in good faith files proceedings in a genuine effort to comply with their constitutional duty to participate in activities designed to improve the environment and protect the health of the nation.
Ramon had a wicked sense of humour. He was merciless in mocking Guyana’s politicians and their little pretences. When I complained that Guyana’s politicians did not seem to read much, Ramon exclaimed, “Read? All they know is comic book and pornography!” It was hard for a ferocious intellect like Ramon’s to thrive in what he described as an ‘illiterate’ society but he did it. He was a force of nature. His courage was unshakeable, his spirit indefatigable.
Someone once asked me how it was possible for the two most opiniated people in Guyana to get along. I would put it down to Ramon’s generosity of spirit, his innate good nature and his total inability to resist a good argument. And perhaps also a shared character trait – decades apart we were both sent home in disgrace as infants for biting bigger children and making them cry.
Sincerely,
Melinda Janki
